We turn to Colossians 3, verses 5 through 11, as we resume our study in the book of Paul's epistle to the church at Colossae. Colossians 3, verses 5 through 11. This is God's holy and errant inspired word. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. And in these, too, you once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away. anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth. And do not lie to one another, seeing that you've put off the old self with its practices, and you've put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of the creator. Here, there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave-free, but Christ is all and in all. Father, your word is clear. Your commandment is easy to understand, but so hard for us as your people to keep. That is, to refrain from sin and to live righteously. So Holy Spirit, we would pray that you would implant the truths of the word that we're considering into our hearts so that we would not sin against you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Please do be seated. Well, it's that time of year where schools are resuming, and I know some children are more excited about that than others. Some teachers are probably more excited about that than others as well. But it is a time to readjust and think things through for the new school year. And I do know that one thing teachers have to decide at this point is how much time should they review what students had hopefully, supposedly learned in years past. And I do recall, it was amazing to me how much students could forget in those three summer months between the end of one school year and the beginning of the other. I bring that up not only because it's the time of year when schools begin, but also because I will tell you that I did somewhat throughout the week share that sentiment with you as God's people preparing to proclaim God's word because it's been over a month. since we last looked at Colossians. And as is always the case, I look out and see a couple of you weren't even with us for any of the previous sermon series. And so, for the sake of all of us, We begin today with a very brief, and I do mean brief, overview of what we've been saying so far in our study in the Book of Colossians. We've covered up to chapter 3, verse 4. But three points kept coming up in all three of these chapters previously. And first and foremost, The book of Colossians reminds us that Christ is the preeminent one over all things. Jesus is the divine son of God, and as the divine son of God, he existed before he created all things, and now he controls. all things. But we specifically were reminded that he has a special providence over his people, his church. And so we read in Colossians 1, 16 through 18, by reminder of this Lord's day. For by him all things were created in heaven on earth, all things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him. and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. But secondly, we've also emphasized that since Jesus is indeed preeminent overall, since he is the supreme ruler over his church, those who are members of Christ's church, Christ's true followers, must reject all false teachings and false teachers who deny Christ's great supremacy. And we have spent quite a bit of time trying to understand the false teaching, the so-called Colossian heresy that was wreaking havoc in that church of Paul's day. And so summarize for us in chapter two, verses eight through 10. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, not according to Christ. For in him all the fullness of God dwells in bodily form. And as we said, as we went through that Colossian heresy, we may not have identified every particular teaching accurately and every element of that false teaching because it was a complicated, rather strange teaching. But we do know this, we can walk away from Colossians very confidently and say, that in our day, sadly, there are many who would still try to lead us away from Christ, who would deny the supremacy of Jesus in all things. And we, as Paul instructed the saints in Colossae, must be those on our guard to fight against all false religious wisdom of those who would strive to lead us away from our Savior. We must reject then all such human philosophy or empty deceit. The third thing that we've emphasized time and again, God's people, the followers of Christ, are united to that preeminent Jesus as members of his church. Our union with Christ has been referenced and been inferred in various times in the first two chapters, but it's most clearly spelled out for us in the verses that began chapter 3 that set the stage for what we'll say this Lord's Day. And so let me remind you of what we read in Colossians 3, 1 through 4. If you've been with Christ, seek the things that are above. Where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above. not on things that are on the earth. Reject those human philosophies, those empty deceits that would lead you away from Christ. For you've died. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Yes, we're united with Christ mystically in his resurrection and his death, but that's not a physical union. That time of seeing Christ with our own eyes will have to wait until his second coming. But we can rejoice in knowing that until then, it is our responsibility as God's people to live for Him and to work for Him. And that's what we see now in the next few Lord's days, in the next few verses of Colossians 3, because Paul emphasizes Christ's preeminence, the rejection of false teachers, and our union with Him, and ties it together with that very simple word, therefore, in verse 5. Therefore, in light of all these truths, Paul now encourages, he entreats, he exhorts the saints at Colossae to live set-apart, holy, sanctified lives. And as we examine the Holy Spirit-inspired words of chapter 3, 5 through 4, 6 over the next several weeks, Lord willing, we as God's people will recognize our need as those united to Christ today to be obedient to the many commands in this portion of Colossians to lead sanctified lives as true followers of our great preeminent Savior. And it's interesting to note, and I will tell you at the outset, you're not gonna see the word sanctified itself in any of these verses. But as we consider, first of all, this morning, an overview of what sanctification means, it will be clear to us, hopefully, in subsequent sermons, that Paul the Apostle is giving us details about how it is that we should demonstrate that we really are united to Christ by the set-apart, sanctified lives that we live for him. Simply summarized for us in verse 17, whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Well, our shorter catechism gives us a concise definition, a summary of what sanctification is than anything I've seen. And so we have that at the bottom of our outlines. If you have your outlines, your bulletins in front of you, let me remind you, sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God. And we're enabled more and more to die unto self. and to live unto righteousness. So let's just remind ourselves of two or three important things here. Sanctification is an ongoing work of God's grace. It's gradual. It's a lifelong process. Sometimes it seems torturous in our lives, doesn't it? We're not nearly those sanctified people we wish to be. Our struggle with sin continues so often. But it is a work. It's not a one-time act. The catechism, I think, rightly identifies justification and adoption as acts of God's grace in distinction from the work, the ongoing work. of the Holy Spirit in sanctification. To justify, we're made right with God once. We're adopted once into God's family and we're never removed. But sanctification takes a lifetime. And in our definition before us, we're renewed in the whole man after the image of God on an ongoing basis. And that's very similar to the language of verse 10 that we've read just a little while ago. See, we put on the new self, which is being renewed. ongoing process in knowledge after the image of its creator. We are learning as God's people in this life more and more about Christ. And we're living more and more for Christ. But let me also emphasize, sanctification, like justification, like adoption, like any other element of God's salvation to his people, is a gracious gift that is granted to us by the Holy Spirit. Because we are unable, on our own, to live sanctified lives. But our loving, gracious, triune God who gives us repentance, who gives us faith, who gives us new natures, also renews our hearts so that we are enabled more and more to die unto sin. and to live unto righteousness. Now, if that was too big and complicated a definition, let me go back to the children's catechism. Children, Kyla, can I get your attention for just a minute? Here it goes, ready? Here's a simple, simple thing to remember from the sermon. Sanctification is this. It is God's making sinners, that's us, holy in heart, and in conduct. That's it. Sinners are made holy in heart and conduct by our loving God. Yet let me also emphasize, of course, we're not passive in our sanctification. We are the ones who do forsake sin. We are the ones who do, by God's grace, live in a righteous manner. In Colossians 3, as he does in other writings, Paul describes this death to sin in this way, this living to righteousness as a process of both putting off End of putting on. And today's passage is gonna emphasize the putting off, the putting to death those earthly words and deeds that are listed for us in part in verses five and eight. Things like sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, slander, anger, wrath, malice, obscene talk in verse nine, also lying to one another. Yet sanctification is not just refraining from sin. It is rather replacing earthly ways with heavenly ways, godlessness with godliness. And so we're to put on compassion. and kindness and humility and meekness and patience in verse 12. And above all, according to verse 14, we are to put on love. We're gonna talk about those things that we should put on next Lord's day. And after that, Lord willing, we'll consider the putting off and putting on process in our daily living in our homes. Because if you noticed with me, verses 18 through 21, Paul is giving instructions to husbands, to wives, to children, to fathers. about sanctified family living. And then he gets very practical and talks about how we should live and how we should be sanctified in the workplace. In chapter 3, 22 through 4, 1, he uses the reference of the relationship to master and slave, but the principles are same for us with employees and employers today. And lastly, in chapter 4, verses 2 through 6, we'll focus on sanctified living in speech before unbelievers, and our prayers for those unbelievers, and for gospel workers who preach the gospel to them. And so we see then Paul appealing to us in this portion of the letter in various ways to be sanctified. But we now turn our attention more specifically to the text before us this morning, because Paul follows a basic pattern here that is found throughout his epistles. He not only commands the Colossians to forsake sin, from verses five to the beginning of verse nine, he also reminds them that this holy living is in keeping with their current position before God as saints in Christ. And we'll see that in the rest of verses nine, 10, and 11 this morning. Sometimes we refer to the imperatives and the indicatives that we find in the New Testament, particularly in Paul's writings. And so, dear Christian, give good heed now to God's word as we consider both the imperatives of your sanctification, that is, how you should act in Christ, and also the indicatives of your sanctification, who you already are in Christ. Well, Paul's first imperative is found in verse five when he commands the Colossians to put to death what is earthly in you. And of course, earthly here is referring to the worldly, sinful things that we face often in this life, and it's a mindset. Paul reminds us of that already in verse two. Set your minds on things that are on above, not on things that are in the earth. And it's for that reason that if any of you have the NSV in front of you, you'll see, and I think it's a wonderful way of summarizing what Paul's saying here. Consider yourselves dead. consider yourselves dead. And so also in verse eight, he can say, put away all things that are sinful in you. So the first imperative, very simply, is to die to sin. It's a very broad, very general command. We don't need to complicate it. Paul simply is telling us, as God's people, do not sin. Boy, that's easy to understand, but it's equally difficult to keep, is it not? But there it is. Paul does specify, of course, five vices or sins in verse five, and then again in verse eight. And he singles out lying in verse nine. And we can categorize these sins in various ways. Perhaps those of us with the catechism in mind would be remembering that sin is breaking God's law. And so we think of the specific commandments that are being broken here. In the seventh commandment, Of course, you're not to commit adultery. We have an emphasis, it seems, in verse five on that commandment. Sexual immorality, impurity, specifically mentioned. Passion, evil desires, perhaps even broader than improper sexual thoughts and desires. And yet Paul comes back to the seventh commandment in verse eight when he tells us that we should refrain from obscene talk. But obviously the 10th commandment is being invoked here too when Paul says we must die to covetousness as well. But Paul makes a connection of course with idolatry and covetousness because anytime we begin to place the things of this life before the Lord, we are breaking both the first and the second commandments. And in verse eight when Paul talks about anger and wrath, inflicting harm on ourselves and on others, Many of us will begin to think of our Lord's words. If you call your neighbor a fool, you're guilty of breaking the commandment, you shall not murder. Malice, slander, interesting discussion we could have trying to distinguish one of those from the other. But very clearly, Paul makes the broader point, clearly spells out, don't lie to one another. And perhaps Paul's signaling this out because, remember, there are false teachers in Colossae that are trying to lead people away from Christ. And Paul, by contrast, is saying saints speak the truth to one another in all areas of life. But I think this morning, perhaps a better, more helpful way for us to categorize these sins that Paul has listed for us here, because he's speaking in general terms, remember? He's telling us, quit sinning. He's telling us to consider yourselves too dead to what is earthly. Put them all away, again, verse eight. So we're reminded that we must do so in thought, and in word, and in deed. especially seems to be focused, verse 5, on that inward heart and inward thought. You must rid yourselves of impure thoughts, desires. You must rid yourself of coveting. In verse 8 and 9, the sins of the lips, malice, slander, obscene talk, lying, All the while, of course, recognizing that these thoughts and these words lead also to evil actions as well. And so as God's people, very simply this morning, if you wonder anything about the sermon on Tuesday or Wednesday, remember this, do not sin. That's it. Don't sin. But a second explanation, a second imperative for us as God's people in our sanctification, Paul gives us that in verses six and seven as well. On account of these things, because people are following after these wicked ways, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. I recognize there's a textual issue about the sons of disobedience. You may have recognized in our parallel passage in Ephesians, the sons of disobedience is specifically mentioned. So I think it's wise to consider that here. Do not act like children of God's wrath, is what Paul is telling us our second imperative for sanctification is. Judgment Day is coming, that's a certainty. When Christ returns, those who exhibit only sinfulness in this life, because they've not repented of their sins, because they have not trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, do face the wrath and curse of God. But Paul's saying, as his adopted sons and daughters, you are no longer sons of disobedience, daughters of disobedience. By God's grace, then, you must strive to take every thought captive. to the obedience of Christ and not sin in God, and to speak words that demonstrate that we are desiring to live for Jesus and to act in a godly manner. And as we do so, we're blessed to see the fruit of sanctification in our lives. But Paul also does say in verse 7, in these you too once walked when you were living in them. Paul reminds the Colossian believers that they used to walk as sons of disobedience, but they don't do so anymore. They put away, they die to such actions. And often, in our study of Colossians, of course, you may recall this. We've emphasized that when Paul was imprisoned or in house arrest in Rome, he wrote not only the book of Colossians, but he wrote to the church at Ephesus, 120 miles away in Asia Minor. And often, parallel passages can be found from Colossians and Ephesians. It's remarkable how similar Ephesians 5, 1 through 8 is. We're not going to read it all again, but I would encourage you to look back at verses 6 through 8 of Ephesians 5 and note that Paul makes the same conclusion there that he made in Colossians 3. Ephesians 5, 6, 7, and 8. Let no one deceive you with empty words. See, Colossian heresy, different heresies, false teaching going on in Ephesus as well. Let no one deceive you with these empty words, because of those things, the wrath of God comes upon, here it is again, those sons of disobedience. And therefore, don't become partners with them. For at one time you were in darkness, but now you're in the light of the Lord. Walk. as children of light. Of course, the light-darkness contract often in scripture, the light of righteousness, the darkness of sin. And so we're reminded earlier in the book of Colossians when Paul wrote in Colossians 2.6, therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. So heed Paul's words this Lord's Day. Quit sinning. Quit acting like sons of disobedience. As now we consider, though, the indicatives of your sanctification, that is, who you already are in Christ, we do recognize that Paul is actually commanding you this morning to become who you already are. Did you ever give this advice to people who are nervous about what they face in life? Just be yourself and everything will be fine. Well, I can say this, as saints of God, be yourselves this morning and the Lord will be pleased as long as you recognize what we mean by our union with Christ and everything else that we're about to consider. And Paul uses that very similar language of putting off and putting on while talking very specifically about who we already are in Jesus. And he reminds the church in Colossae in verses nine and 10 that you have put off the old self with its practices and you have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. And the word that Paul uses specifically in these verses for putting off and putting on, we almost would do better if we took them more literally here, because these words were both inside of Scripture and outside of Scripture in the Greek use in those days, were almost always involved with addressing and undressing. So let me phrase it for you this way. Paul is telling us, if you're already in Christ, you are one who has stripped off your old man, And you're now clothed with your new man. You stripped off that old man. You're clothed with that new man. And Paul is looking upon that action in part as something that took place in the past but now has previous consequences. And there's various ways of translating or considering the old self. Some have the old man. Some have the old sinful nature. We might even refer to our old fleshly desires. in contrast with the new man that we are in Jesus, the new self, that new renewed nature, that new spirit that we have. But I think the best way to contrast and to identify the old and the new here is to say it this way. You were once an Adam, but now you are in Christ. You were once an Adam, but now You are in Christ. All men were born with old sinful natures. Original sin took place and we inherited from Adam. All mankind sinned in him and fell with him in his first transgression. All born as sons of disobedience who deserve God's wrath and curse. But thanks be to God, there is a second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. the one who kept the whole law for God's people and suffered the punishment that was due for our sins. And that's Paul's entire discussion in Romans chapter 5. And we're going to read a broader portion of Romans 5 during the distribution of the elements this Lord's Day. But if you want to turn back and note the conclusion that Paul makes, in Romans 5. I want to read just two verses for us there, verses 18 and 19, where the two men are very clearly established as Adam, the old, the first Adam, and Jesus, the second Adam. And so let's read Romans 5, 18 and 19. And I will tell you, I think the alternate reading for the ESV is better, and that's what I'm going to read this Lord's Day. Romans 5, verses 18 through 19. And therefore, the trespass of one led to condemnation for all men. Adam sinned. We are all in Adam. Excuse me. So also the act of righteousness of one man leads to justification and life for all men. That act of righteousness, I think we can refer to with our Savior as the ongoing act in the 33 years of life and death that he faced for as God's people. And for as the one man, Adam's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. And that's who you are in Jesus. That's why it's okay for me as a minister of the gospel to say to saints, be yourselves this week. Remember, you've put off the old, you've put on the new. And Thomas Goodwin, the, Old Puritan, I think, phrased things well for us. There are but two men who stand before God now, Adam and Jesus Christ. And on these two men have all others fastened themselves. Adam, Jesus, which leads to this question. When judgment day comes, will God see you in Adam? or will He see you in Christ? Are you still clinging to your old self and refusing to turn from sin and to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ who died and overcame sin on the cross for sinners? If you are, sadly, apart from Christ this Lord's Day, I exhort you to lose the bonds from Adam and fasten yourself to Christ and know what it means to take off the old and to put on the new. But my beloved brothers and sisters, you who are united to Christ, you're no longer sons and daughters of that old man Adam. You are dressed in Christ's righteousness. Your old filthy garments have been stripped away. So go forth today and act like it. Be who you are in Jesus. And we said earlier, this reference to putting off and putting on looks back to a previous event in your life. And since we are reviewing some today, I will tell you, we keep going back to Colossians chapter two, verses 11 through 14. But I think in order for us to really understand what Paul's saying here in chapter three, we need to go back to this passage because Paul is talking about a time when we stripped off the old self with its practices and put on the new self. Well, what was that time? Notice in Colossians 2 verse 11. In him, union with Christ yet again, emphasized by Paul. You were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. This was not the ritual of the Old Testament removal of the foreskin. This was the circumcision of the heart that God's people were commanded to have throughout the Old Testament. And because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, we have now been given new hearts. We have been circumcised, not just in the flesh, in the body, But in our hearts, what happened when you were given that new heart? Notice the language of verse two, you put off and that's the same word you stripped off the body of the flesh. What we just read in Colossians three about the old man. That's what happened to you. in your regeneration, when the Holy Spirit gave you a new nature. And if you have any doubt that that's what Paul's emphasizing here, note with me verse 13. You were dead in your trespasses, in the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made alive together with him, forgiving us all of our transgressions. The work of regeneration, the work of being born again by the Holy Spirit. So now, beloved, your call for sanctification as one to be who you are in Christ should remind you of your regeneration. The Holy Spirit gave you a new nature. You were united to Christ when you were born again. Holy Spirit applied the redemption that was purchased for Christ on the cross for you. Verse 14 makes that clear. He canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. He nailed it to the cross. You were united with Christ in his death at your regeneration. And beloved, if you remember, we discussed verse 11, that very interesting last phrase, by the circumcision of Christ, and we said the circumcision of Christ referred to his death at Calvary, where he put off the body of flesh in your place and suffered the gruesome death of the cross. But as Reformed believers this morning, we also recognize the sign and seal of your regeneration was your baptism. And so it shouldn't surprise us in verse 12, we read about our baptism, We were buried with him in baptism, there it is, united in his death. in which you also were raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. United in his death, united in his resurrection, occurred when the Holy Spirit worked upon your hearts, signed and sealed by the work of the Holy Spirit in the wonderful blessing of the sacrament of baptism. And that's why we remind our children that their baptism binds them to be true followers of Christ. but it's true for us as adults as well. We are called to be true followers of Christ. We are to be sanctified in our actions because in our regeneration and in our baptisms, we've already been set apart to live holy lives before the Lord. One has summarized Paul's teaching this way, let the old man who has already died in your baptism stay dead. Let the old man who has died in your baptism stay dead. And that's what Paul told us. We read this earlier today as well. Colossians 3.27, for as many as of you were baptized to Christ have put on Christ. And then Paul goes on to give us all another great truth to ponder in our text this morning as those who put on Christ, as those who have been called to be sanctified, and that is this. the fourth indicative of your sanctification. Your sanctification will result in your glorification. Your sanctification will result in your glorification. We've said it's an ongoing process of being more and more godly, less and less sinful. Described for us in verse 10 this way, we're being renewed in knowledge after the image of the creator. Our minds and our spirits are being renewed more and more. We're learning more and more of Christ. We're living more and more for Christ. We're reflecting more and more His image in our thoughts, words, and deeds. But I don't want any of you to misconstrue anything I've said about quitsinning. be obedient, put off the old man completely. That's our charge. But obviously, in this life, we're never perfectly going to be sanctified. And that's why Paul reminds us that even as we seek those things that are above, it's only when Christ, who is our life, appears that we will appear with him in glory, in verse four. And we were reminded that the sons of disobedience, in verse 6, are the ones that face God's wrath and curse. But not so for us, beloved. Not so for us who've been united to Christ in our regeneration and in our baptism. Not so for us who have been called to live sanctified lives. And that's what John said, too, in 1 John 3, 2 and 3. Listen to these words. We're God's children now. The adoption is taking place. But what we will be has not yet appeared. We know that when he appears, we'll be like him. We'll see him as he is. And so what do we do while we wait for his appearing? Everyone who hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Live sanctified lives. Know that that sanctification results in glorification. Lastly, this. Lord's Day. I address, I know, a whole body of believers as I do each Lord's Day. And that leads us then to the last description of your sanctification in our text, in verse 11. Here, there is not Greek or Jew. There's not circumcised or uncircumcised. There's not barbarian, Scythian, slave, free. But Christ is all, and he's in all. Interestingly, Paul says here. Well, what location is Paul even talking about? Here it is, the place where baptized, regenerated saints are gathered as God's people, his church. And it's a great blessing to know, isn't it? As you strive to lead holy lives before your holy savior, you are united to God's people in your sanctification. You're not alone. See, you might not have the same ethnic group, Greek, which is a generic term for all Gentiles and Jews, and I know we're a small body of Christ, but look around, we're not all of the same ethnic group. We don't have the same religious background, circumcised and uncircumcised. I know, this is really fascinating to me. I mean, if I were to ask for a show of hands, how many of you grew up in a Presbyterian home or church? A lot of you would keep your hands down at this point, right? Different religious backgrounds, yet here we are, worshiping side by side. The barbarian-Scythian thing is pretty interesting. These were the most uncultured people you could possibly think of. I'm not going to fill in an ethnic group because that would really get me in trouble today, but think of the most uncultured group you can think of. The Scythians were known for being so barbaric that they actually practiced cannibalism. And yet there they were, saved by God's grace, worshiping side by side with perhaps highly economic, people in a higher economic class. Notice too, slaves, masters, Paul's gonna distinguish how they're supposed to act and treat each other during the week, but when they gather together to worship, they're one in Christ. And that's the common denominator that we all have. We are all in Christ. Christ is all, and he is in all. And Paul's already made that point in Galatians as well, words that we read earlier. For in Christ Jesus, you're all sons of God through faith. For as many as of you were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ. But it's not just individuals. Here, there's not a Jew, there's not a Greek, there's not a slave, there's not a free, there's not a male, there's not a female. You're all one in Christ Jesus. Christ is all and in all. So really, we end the sermon this Lord's Day where we began. Remember our review of Colossians? Christ is the preeminent one. He is the head of his church and we stand united in him and with one another. We are together then called to be sanctified. We are together to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness because we've put off the old man. We have stripped off Adam. We're no longer united to him. We now are dressed in the righteousness of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So beloved, go forth this week, be yourselves, be who you are, sanctified saints in the Lord Jesus Christ for his glory and his honor. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we would acknowledge that we are still sinners saved by grace, but we amazingly recognize that it's true. Your word teaches us that we are your set-apart saints. And we know that He who began a good work in us is committed to finishing it to the end. So we rejoice in knowing that our sanctification ends in our glorification. But Father, that does not free us then to live however we want. We know that. God's word is clear there. We are called, as set apart ones, to live more and more. unto you to die more and more to sin. So this week, this year, throughout our life, would you continue to mold us to be more and more like our Savior, but help us to be those who demonstrate that we are in Christ by the way we act. Help us to be who we are in Jesus. But if your spirit has not worked upon the hearts of any who've heard the gospel today, we would pray that your Holy Spirit, who so graciously gave us new hearts, would give them new hearts as well. That people who hear, who are apart from Christ, would respond in repentance and faith and bend their knee to Jesus. We desire, Father, more and more that Jesus would be honored in our lives, in the lives of our brothers and sisters here at Grace, and of sinners who need your saving grace as well. Hear us, we pray, in Jesus' name.